Electric dry closet



A. LE BLANC.

ELECTRIC DRY CLOSET.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1919.

Patented Oct. 24, 1922.

Patented Oct. 24, 1922.

UNITED STATES ARTHUR LE BLANC, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC DRY CLOSET.

Application filed July 22,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ARTHUR Ln BLANG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in'Electric Dry Closets, of which the following is aspecification. I p

This invention relates to dry closets, and more especially to those havin magazines or receptacles; and the object oi the same is to produce a closet of this type for use on railway cars and other transportation devices, having means for incinerating or drying out the material within the receptacle so that it can be dumped from time to time in the form of powder. When such a structure is used on street cars, automobiles, elevated railways, airships, and other transportation devices, it will permit of continuous riding for longer distances than is now convenient, thus materially adding to the utility thereof. The closets in use on railroads cannot, of course, be used on street cars and automobiles, because they are usu ally so constructed as to discharge their contents on the ground, which in the cases above cited would be in the public streets. In the case of airships also, such closets would discharge promiscuously and would not be tolerated, at least in thickly settled districts.

The principal objects of this invention are to provide a convenient and sanitary closet which shall have means whereby the excrement or other matter which may be discharged into it will be incinerated and reduced to an odorless dry powder, to provide simple and inexpensive means for accomplishing this result, and means for'holding the powder so that it may be discharged at the end of the run, or wherever desired.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of part of a car, showing how the invention may be applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the lower part of one form of the closet.

The car is shown as having a compartment 10 with any ordinary form of sink or bowl 11 which discharges at the bottom through a pipe 12 into a metallic drawer or receptacle 13, located in a case 14. A ventilator pipe 15 is shown extending u i from the body of the case. Located in t e case below or at the side of the drawer, or both,

1919. Serial No. 312,561.

are means for J incinerating the contents thereof, preferably consisting of a series of coils 16 of wire, connected through a switch 17 with a. source'of electric energy. When applied to an electric street car the connection preferably is made with the line in the same manner that the lights are connected. The coils are so placed that the drawer will be highly heated and its contents will be burned to a crisp or evaporated. In any case no unburned matter is allowed to remain in any part of the apparatus for an appreciable length of time. While the switch 17 may be located at any desired point, I prefer to employ a switch of the push-button type located on the rim of the bowl in position to be depresed by the seat. The seat is carried by spring hinges so that it will be normally raised and the circuit broken, waste of current being thereby avoided.

The application of the invention to other forms of transportation devices will be obvious. It will be' observed that the invention is useful when applied to a cooking compartment or car, as a means of disposing of garbage.

y preference a metal sheet 20 will be hinged at 21 within the bowl 11 and connected by a link 22 or otherwise with the seat cover 23 so that when the cover is raised the sheet is raised and the bowl is open for use. But when the cover is again closed the sheet is closed across the interior of the bowl, and the heat therein is kept from the cover and: the upper portion of the bowl and therefore will not be communicated to the interior of the toilet room. The sheet 20 serves to confine the heat and fumes in the lower portion of tihe member 12 after the device has been use As illustrated in Figure 1, the heating coil 16 is arranged beneath the receptacle 13 and is, therefore, spaced from contact with the material discharged from the bowl. Also, with reference to this figure, it will be noted that the coil in being arranged directly beneath the receptacle, heats the refuse within the receptacle to a. high degree.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred form of the invention and a particular application thereof, I am aware that it may be applied in many other ways by a skilled mechanic without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not limit myself to the details of construction shown.

What is claimed as new is: i

1. The combination with a bowl, a hinged seat therefor, and a spring adapted to raise said seat; of a casing below the discharge end of the bowl, a rece tacle in the upper portion of the casing an removable through one of the sides thereof, a heating co-il'within said casing below the receptacle and covered by the latter, an electric source with; a circuit in which said coil is situated, and a push-button switch for said circuit situated between the seat and the rim of the bowl, said switch being adapted to be closed by the depression of the seat.

2. The combination with a bowl, a hinged seat thereon, a spring adapted to raise the seat, and a swinging cover for said seat; of

a lid pivoted within the bowl and conforming' to the inner contour thereof, a link disposed within the bowl and pivoted at its upper end to said cover and at its lower end to said lid, a casing below the discharge end of the bowl, a receptacle in the upper portion of the casing and removable throu h one of the sides thereof, a heating coil with in said casing below the receptacle and covered by the latter, an electric source with a circuit in which said coil is situated, and a push-button switch for said circuit situated between the seat and the rim of the bowl, said switch being adapted to be closed by the depression of the seat. I

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

ARTHUR LE BLANC. [n a] 

